Automatic oiler for air pumps



April 4, 1961 J. O. lVlE AUTOMATIC OILER FOR AIR PUMPS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed July 3, 1958 INVENTOR. James d If/z'e ATTORNEYS April 4, 1961 lo. ME

AUTOMATIC OILER' FOR AIR PUMPS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July I5, 1958 Jamesmbge WzffM/m ATTORNEYS AUTOMATIC OILER FOR AIR PUMPS James 0. Ivie, Salt Lake City, Utah (7165 Delaware St., Riverside, Calif.)

Filed July 3, 1958, Ser. No. 746,538 5 Claims. (Cl. 230-207) The present invention relates to a unit that is `attached to an air pump'to provide means for automatically supplying oil to the intake air to the pump and for removing oil from the exhaust air from the pump.

Hereofore, several devices have been ysuggested for adding Voil to the inlet air of an air pump. The continuous flow of oil from the pump in the exhaust air therefrom is a constant source of trouble, as it softens the rubber connection, or clogs the metal pipe, if metal pipes are used. Means for removing `this oil and recirculating it through the pump'have not heretofore 'been incorporated in a lsingle unit.

it is an objectof this invention to supply a single unit to admit oil to the inlet air to an air pump and remove the oil from the exhaust air from said pump.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an `oi1 reservoir having transparent sides so that the ilow of oil and the condition of the oil may be subject to visual inspection. t Y t It is a further object of this invention to provide within the reservoir an air port in the high pressure line that causes the air to iiow against the sides of said reservoir in a line that is tangential thereto.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a ltering means between the high pressure inlet and the high pressure outlet to remove the oil from the air stream.

The various features of novelty which characterize Y 4this invention are pointedout with particularity in the Fig. 3.

y Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. l.`

Fig. 3 is an enlarged verticalsectionon line 3--3 of Pig. 2.

Fig. 4 isa horizontal sectional view on line 4 4 of Fig. 5 is a f Fig. 3.

Figf is a fragmentary sectional View similar to Fig. 5 v

. of a modication for regulating'the luid flow.

'Y The lirst embodiment of lthe invention'illustrated vin the Fig.7 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3 of a further modification.,

fragmentary sectional view on line --5 atent 'u 2,978,177@ v Patented Apr. 4l, 1961 of the neoprene gasket 16 retained on the under side of said body. Said reservoir is held in position lagainst the body by means of the metal straps 17, 17, shown in Figs. 1 and 4, which are held on the body by the bolts 18, 18. There is an expansion unit at lthe bottom of these straps comprising a threaded stud 19, shown in Fig. 3, with the threaded nut 20 thereon, which may be brought to bear against the bottom of the reservoir 15 through the elastomeric cushion 21.

The high pressure inlet air is admitted through the air inlet 11 and passes through the body down into the reservoir 15 through the nozzle 22. Thisnozzle has a side opening 23 and a restricted bottom opening 23', which will admit the air with entrained oil therein `in a line that is against and at an angle to the inside surface of the reservoir 15, and causes the llow of air therethrough to circulate in a Cyclonic manner around the interior surface of the reservoir 15, thereby depositing the entrained oil on the interior surface of the reservoir. The air is exhausted from this reservoir through the outlet 12.

The low pressure air to the air pump is admitted to the body 1t) through the low pressure inlet 14 and passes through the body to the pump, through the low pressure outlet 13. Between therinlet 14 and the outlet 13 this low pressure air picks up a quantity ef oil which is preferably admitted by means of the wick 24, Vshown in Figs. 3 and 4, which passes through theconduit 25 to the body 10 and comes in contact with the low pressure air within this passage through the body.

The reservoir 15 is preferably made of a transparent material, such as glass or a transparent plastic such as methacrylate, but may be made of a non-transparent material, such as metal.

The flow of oil up the wick into contact with the low pressure is caused by the dilferences in pressure between the inside of the reservoir 15 and the low pressure conduit 25 in the top of the body. This means of feeding the oil is shown in Figs. 3 and 5, but a second modification is also within the scope of this invention, as

shown in Fig. 6, wherein Vthe low pressure air inlet 26 leads to a low pressure conduit 27 and to the low pressure outlet 28, through the body 1li. The conduit 27 Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing the operation of the device.

Y `drawings comprises the Vmain body 'of thevunit 10, shown uin Fig.. 1.

Attached to this is ythe high pressureair inlet 11 and the high pressureair` outlet 12'. Also attachedV tached to the `under side of this body10is a reservoir 15 heldinlairtight connection with the body 10A by'meansV to this main bodyA 10 is af low pressure air outlet 13,. "l

shown in Fig. 2,A andthe low pressure air inlet 14.5-.At-

v 'picks'upl'the oil from the wick 24, f fpump andlubricates the same, is exhausted through the high pressure conduit 38 into the oil has an opening in the bottom thereof'which leads, by means of a conduit 29 to the oil in the reservoir 15. Across the top of this conduit 29 is a needle valve 30 threaded into the body 1) and held in position by means Vof lock nut 31 and adjustable by means of the knurled head 32.

A third modification is showninFig. 7, wherein a porous lter 33 surrounds the conduit 25 Vand is held in position against the neoprene washer 34, by means of Vthe springV 375. The neoprene washer 34 surrounds the high pressure outlet so that the entering airrvin` addition to being forced against the side of the reservoir 15 must.

alsoV pass through the 'centered Iporous filter made of` fused-glass, fritor Carbrundum in the usual manner.

The degree of porosity-of this lter may be selected-so as to give the proper filtering action and at the same time not create too high a resistance to the air how there# through. Y

In operation, apump 36, having ythe air intake conduit 37 isconnected to the main body 10, as shown in Fig.

8.; The exhaust, or high pressure side of the pump has.`

a conduit 38 connected to the main body as shown. The air entering ,the conduit 37 passes through the main body,

` throughthe opening 23 into the glass reservoir 15. It circulatesV aroundv the inside ofthe reservoir and isA exhausted through the high passes Vthrough the Y` '3 forces the oil through the wick 24 within the conduit 25 so that the oil may be picked up by the intake air at the top of the oiler.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes there has been illustrated and described the best forms of embodiment of this invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the forms of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of this 4invention as set forth in the appended claims and that in some cases certain features of this invention may be used without corresponding uses of other features.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination of an air pump and a unitary lubricating oiler, said air pump having a low pressure air inlet and a high pressure air outlet, said lubricating oiler comprising a body portion and an oil reservoir held in air-tight relationship with said body portion, said body portion having a low pressure conduit therethrough operatively connected to the -low pressure air inlet of said pump and the atmosphere, said low pressure conduit having a branch conduit leading to the bottom of said reservoir and having means therein to restrict the flow of oil to said llow pressure conduit from said reservoir, said body portion having a high pressure conduit centrally tlocated therein operatively connecting the interior of said reservoir to the said high pressure air outlet of said pump, said high pressure conduit having a nozzle within said reservoir neaithe top thereof to discharge the incoming air tangentially to the interior side surface 4 of said reservoir, said body portion having a second high pressure conduit therein leading from the upper part of said reservoir to an air outlet delivery port.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein there is a porous iilter within said oil reservoir, said reservoir being transparent separating the high pressure air inlet from the high pressure air outlet.

3. A device as claimed in claim l, wherein the llow of oil from the reservoir to the low pressure conduit is regulated by means of a valve.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the iiow of oil from said reservoir to said inlet air is regulated by means of a wick.

5. A device as claimed in claim l, wherein the means for admitting a constant supply of oil to said air inlet is surrounded within the reservoir by a porous filter comprising a yfused granular material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Y 1,706,676 Paasche Mar. 26, 1929 2,153,349 Squiller Apr. 4, 1939 2,272,926 Squiller Feb. 10, 1942 2,514,623 lBrown July 1l, 1950 2,689,080 Preiss Sept. 14, 1954 2,769,445 Morgavi Nov. 6, 1956 2,850,323 Veres Sept. 2, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 394,313 France Nov. 23, 1908 

